Considerable interest has been generated in the field of regenerative medicine by recent work relating to the isolation and propagation of human stem cells from the early embryo. These cells have two very special properties: First, unlike other normal mammalian cell types, they can be propagated in culture almost indefinitely, providing a virtually unlimited supply. Second, they can be used to generate a variety of tissue types of interest as a source of replacement cells and tissues that are damaged in the course of disease, infection, or because of congenital abnormalities.
Early work on pluripotent stem cells was done in mice (Robertson, Meth. Cell Biol. 75:173, 1997; and Pedersen, Reprod. Fertil. Dev. 6:543, 1994). Experiments with human stem cells have required overcoming a number of additional technical difficulties and compilations. As a result, technology for culturing and differentiating human pluripotent stem cells is considerably less advanced.
Thomson et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,780; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:7844, 1995) were the first to successfully isolate and propagate pluripotent stem cells from primates. They subsequently derived human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines from human blastocysts (Science 282:114, 1998). Gearhart and coworkers derived human embryonic germ (hEG) cell lines from fetal gonadal tissue (Shamblott et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:13726, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,622). Both hES and hEG cells have the long-sought characteristics of pluripotent stem cells: they can be cultured extensively without differentiating, they have a normal karyotype, and they remain capable of producing a number of important cell types.
A significant challenge to the use of pluripotent stem cells for therapy is that they are traditionally cultured on a layer of feeder cells to prevent differentiation (U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,780; U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,622). According to Thomson et al. (Science 282:114, 1998), hPS cells cultured without feeders soon die, or differentiate into a heterogeneous population of committed cells. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) inhibits differentiation of mouse ES cells, but it does not replace the role of feeder cells in preventing differentiation of human ES cells.
International Patent Publication WO 99/20741 (Geron Corp.) is entitled Methods and materials for the growth of primate-derived primordial stem cells. A cell culture medium is described for growing primate-derived primordial stem cells in a substantially undifferentiated state, having a low osmotic pressure and low endotoxin levels. The basic medium can be combined with a serum effective to support the growth of primate-derived primordial stem cells on a substrate of feeder cells or a feeder cell matrix. The medium may also include non-essential amino acids, an anti-oxidant, and growth factors that are either nucleosides or a pyruvate salt.
International Patent Publication WO 01/51616 (Geron Corp.) is entitled Techniques for growth and differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells. An article by Xu et al. (Nature Biotechnology 19:971, 2001) is entitled Feeder-free growth of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells. An article by Lebkowski et al. (Cancer J. 7 Suppl. 2:S83, 2001) is entitled Human embryonic stem cells: culture, differentiation, and genetic modification for regenerative medicine applications. These publications report exemplary culture methods for propagating human embryonic stem cells in an undifferentiated state, and their use in preparing cells for human therapy.
New technology to facilitate growing and manipulating undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells would be a substantial achievement towards realizing the full commercial potential of embryonic cell therapy.